On your journey to success, you will encounter many curveballs and at each turn, you will have a choice to opt out or push through with determination. Today’s training run was just that: a test of our patience and resilience. 2 weeks away from our 22km race at the Ultimate XC, it was time to test our legs on the infamous Mount-Royal stairs. Our race in St-Donat will lead us unto a steady climb under a blistering sun by the 11th km. We purposely arrived at the mountain well after 11am and ran to the bottom of the stairs. The area was already buzzing with people, avid runners, weekend fitness enthusiasts and unsuspecting tourists hoping for a shortcut to the belvedere were all rubbing elbows up and down the stairs. For the next 50min, we joined the crowd with a steady up & down routine. It did not matter how we navigated the stairs (hopefully not on all fours!) as long as we kept moving. This was a preview of our endless climb up la côte de l’Enfer and we had to train our legs to recognise the pain and push through it. At each turn, we had a choice to walk back to the car. And at each turn, we reminded our body that we would not have that luxury once on the actual race path. The breath was the first to rebel demanding more air but then it slowly picked up a synchronised in & out tempo. The quads fired up next…the calves followed…the burn increasing at each climb. Halfway through, the legs weak and wobbly were screaming at us to stop this madness! “Keep going, the pain is temporary, we are almost at the summit, you are doing awesome, this is what we’ve trained for, I need you to be strong, just a few more steps “. And as we kept moving, the screaming stopped to leave way to a new surge of energy. At the 50min mark, we reached the top of the mountain where the view was just stupendous! The secret to success is getting comfortable with the uncomfortable by accepting that it is to be so. When you push yourself, you will inevitably encounter difficult situations, even risk disappointment. Stay focused; make your will strong enough to clear any physical or emotional hurdle on your way. Identify the challenges, decide to meet them head on, visualize your success and celebrate all your little victories along the way!